Human Impact Project

Two 16-year-old Venezuelan cousins were detained by ICE agents during a raid on their Detroit home in late November 2025. The teens arrived in the U.S. in 2023 and were formally seeking asylum with valid work permits. Both were students at Western International High School, where a teacher described one cousin as an excellent student eager to learn English. One cousin worked at Chili's. During the raid, agents also detained two of the teens' parents while searching for a different individual. All four family members were transferred to the South Texas Family Residential Center in Texas, hundreds of miles from their support network. Both teens had pending asylum cases scheduled for immigration court. Community members, students, and advocates held a rally at Clark Park calling for their immediate release.

Matthew Marrero and his husband Allan Dabrio Marrero attended a green card interview at 26 Federal Plaza in Manhattan on November 24, 2025. Allan was detained by ICE after it was discovered he had missed an immigration court hearing in December 2022 and had a deportation order against him, which neither he nor Matthew knew about. Matthew says they were told Allan could leave the facility but were then handed over to ICE agents, and he had only 30 seconds to say goodbye before they were separated. Allan has since been transferred to Delaney Hall ICE Detention Center in Newark, New Jersey.

Nine people were detained by U.S. Border Patrol agents during an immigration enforcement sweep in the Raleigh area on November 19, 2025, and held overnight at New Hanover County jail in Castle Hayne. The nine detainees, consisting of one woman and eight men ranging in age from 24 to 59, were transferred to an undisclosed location on November 20, 2025. ICE officials did not disclose to jail staff the reasons for the detentions or the destination of the detainees. This operation was part of a broader U.S. Border Patrol enforcement surge that began in Charlotte over the weekend, which had resulted in more than 250 arrests by the time of this article.

Fatima Issela Velasquez-Antonio, 23, of Wendell, North Carolina, was detained by federal agents during a U.S. Border Patrol immigration enforcement sweep on November 19, 2025. Velasquez-Antonio came to the United States at age 14 from Honduras after her father was killed by a gang and her mother died of cancer; she had no criminal record beyond two traffic violations, had graduated high school, and recently purchased a home in Wendell with her boyfriend with plans to start a family. She was arrested near her workplace at an HVAC business and transferred to New Hanover County jail before being moved to an undisclosed location on November 20, 2025. Her family has received no information about her whereabouts or what will happen to her next. The detention occurred as part of a broader U.S. Border Patrol operation in the Triangle area that detained nine people total.

A man appeared in court in Lebanon, Tennessee for a routine traffic violation when ICE agents in plain clothes detained him without showing identification. His U.S. citizen daughter intervened and was injured in the process. The man was taken away in a white van, and his family reports lacking clear answers about his whereabouts or status. Five people were detained by ICE after appearing in Robertson County General Sessions Court on November 19 to answer summons for misdemeanor traffic violations. All five had pleaded guilty to traffic offenses and paid their fines before being escorted to a private room and subsequently removed from the courthouse in handcuffs and leg shackles by masked ICE agents. The detainees, including Yanim Lopez and Aurora Leao, both originally from Mexico, were transferred to detention facilities in Knoxville and later Louisiana. ICE arrested 6,251 people in Tennessee between January 20 and October 15, 2025, with arrest rates rising throughout the year. Attorneys report that immigrants following legal requirements—including routine ICE check-ins—are now being detained and deported, a shift from previous practice. The article documents cases where immigrants with no criminal records are detained at check-ins, judges in some counties are contacting ICE, and immigration holds prevent bonded release, leaving immigrants in jail for months before court appearances.

Yuri Alexander Roque Campos, a 30-year-old detainee with a life-threatening heart condition, was transferred from Mesa Verde to California City ICE Detention Facility on September 5th, 2025. He was denied his heart medications before even seeing an intake nurse and did not receive aspirin for five days. As a result, he suffered a "pre-heart attack" and was rushed to the emergency room twice during his first two days with extreme chest pain and paralysis, losing consciousness during the first trip. When he returned to the facility, his medical records and the ER doctor's letter were confiscated. He was placed in an isolated observation cell for eight days with sporadic medication and did not see a doctor for over a month. Medical expert review concluded his treatment put him "at significant risk for sudden cardiac death."

Britania Uriostegui Rios, a transgender woman, was deported by ICE from Louisiana to Mexico despite a March court order finding she would "more likely than not" face torture or death there. Her attorneys say ICE removed her "without any notice whatsoever," leaving her without medication, identification, money, or a phone, and that she was later found hiding at an unsupportive relative's home. Her lawyers have sued President Trump, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, and other officials, arguing the removal violated her due process rights and a protective order under the Convention Against Torture. Prior to her deportation, ICE had transferred her without notifying her attorneys to an all-men's prison in Louisiana, and had also sought to remove her to El Salvador.

Nine employees at Allston Car Wash in Boston—Hector Valladares, Felicita Valladares, Vanessa Vasquez Valladares, Clarisa Aguilon, Heidy Aguilon, Yuli Magali Mendez Luarca, Pablo Oseas Lopez, Dairo Preciado, and Jose P. Enriquez Sagastume—were detained by more than 22 ICE agents on November 4, 2025. All nine workers held valid work permits at the time of their arrest. According to business manager Jose Barrera, agents arrived with subpoenas and detained the workers before allowing them to retrieve their work permits from their lockers. Attorney Todd Pomerleau reported that detainees held at ICE's Boston field office in Burlington experienced mistreatment, including being denied food and shower access for several days, and that one detainee was allegedly transferred to Texas in violation of a court order. Seven of the detained workers subsequently filed a federal tort claim through Boston Lawyers for Civil Rights alleging unlawful arrest, racial profiling based on their Latino and Spanish-speaking status, and mistreatment in custody including shackling, transport to multiple detention facilities, and denial of access to phones, legal counsel, and medications. The complaint seeks $1 million in compensation per worker plus legal fees.

Kara Dominguez, a U.S. citizen and activist who runs La Voz del Pueblo, a grassroots group tracking ICE activity on Facebook, alleges that ICE arrested her husband Olvin Dominguez on November 5, 2025, in retaliation for her activism. According to Kara, her husband reported that ICE officers said they had been monitoring her Facebook page. Olvin Dominguez, an undocumented immigrant from Honduras with no criminal record who has lived in the U.S. for 17 years, was transferred to Winn Correctional Center in Louisiana.

Victor Cruz, a Hillsboro resident with legal work authorization and temporary protected status, was arrested by ICE on October 14 after agents pulled him over, claiming he was wanted on DUI and hit-and-run charges. ICE agents allegedly confused him with another man bearing the same name despite recognizing the photo mismatch. After ICE confirmed at the Portland facility that Cruz had no criminal record, he was transferred to a detention facility in Tacoma, Washington, where he remained for over three weeks. An immigration judge initially denied bail, but a federal district court judge released Cruz on bond on November 7. Democratic political leaders, including Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici, and his family and attorney protested the detention as unlawful.

Marta Brizeyda Renderos Leiva, a 39-year-old from El Salvador, was arrested by ICE at Salt Lake City International Airport while arriving on a flight. She had a valid work permit approved in 2024 and was unaware of a 2020 deportation order, as the court notice had been sent to an address where she no longer lived. Her attorney states she was detained for months, transferred through multiple facilities, and deported despite having an active appeal pending, leaving behind her four U.S. citizen children.

Carlos Guerra Leon, an 18-year-old recent high school graduate from Spring Valley, New York, was arrested without a warrant by federal officers on August 9, 2025, and transferred to Jackson Correctional Facility in Louisiana despite holding approved Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS) and deferred action status that protected him from deportation under the Biden administration. He came to the U.S. from Guatemala at age 10 after experiencing abandonment and neglect, and had built a stable life attending school and working legally in New York. The National Immigration Project, ACLU of Louisiana, and Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights filed a federal habeas petition challenging his detention. After nearly three months in custody over 1,000 miles from home, Federal Judge Terry Doughty issued a temporary restraining order on October 31 ruling Guerra Leon's detention unlawful and that his release "serves the public interest by ensuring that the Government adheres to its own laws." Despite the court order, ICE officials at the Louisiana facility initially refused to release him, claiming to have "no knowledge" of the ruling and forcing an emergency motion before he was finally released and returned home to New York.

A Guatemalan immigrant identified only as "D," who lived in Providence for 20 years, was detained by ICE in November 2025 and held at the Wyatt Detention Center in Central Falls before being woken around 3 a.m. and transferred without explanation to a federal facility in Berlin, New Hampshire, ten days later. During the overnight transfer in a cramped van, he was handcuffed tightly enough to draw blood and exposed to winter cold through the vehicle's back door. He said he stayed quiet out of fear officers would treat him worse if he showed emotion, and worried he might be deported without being able to say goodbye to his family. He was ultimately released on bond, and immigration lawyers report that rapid transfers increasingly cut detainees off from legal counsel, with 12% experiencing at least four transfers in 2025.

A 45-year-old Mexican citizen who entered legally in January 2025 and overstayed her visa was arrested on her way to work. At the Portland ICE facility, an officer forced her to sign a rights waiver form in Spanish without allowing her to consult a lawyer, telling her that refusing voluntary removal would take a very long time. The form waived her right to an immigration court hearing despite her intention to seek asylum. Within hours, ICE shackled her and transferred her to Tacoma, Washington, before her attorneys could properly advise her.

M-J-M-A, a 45-year-old Mexican citizen who entered the U.S. legally in January 2025 and overstayed her visa, was arrested on October 30, 2025 on her way to work. An ICE officer pressured her to sign a document she did not understand, in Spanish, that waived her right to an immigration court hearing and requested voluntary removal. The officer told her that refusing would delay her departure. When her attorney met with her approximately three hours later, they had only about 10 minutes before the meeting was ended. She was then transferred to Tacoma, Washington and shackled on a bus, with no attorneys able to meet with her for approximately two days afterward.

A group of ten women arrested in the October 2025 immigration raid at the Savino del Bene warehouse in Woodbridge, New Jersey, were transferred through detention facilities in Texas and Ohio before being sent to the North Lake Correctional Facility in Michigan, near the Canadian border. The women, including one identified as Sofía, said they were given little food or water during the days-long transfer, forced to undress and shower in front of a female officer, and verbally demeaned by an immigration officer who called them "bitches" when handing them to an Ohio county sheriff. Once at the Michigan facility, the women said the heat was not turned on during the freezing Upper Midwest winter.

Jhonatan Bello Cabrera, an 18-year-old Colombian national, was detained during an immigration raid at the Savino del Bene warehouse in Woodbridge, New Jersey, while in the process of obtaining permanent residency through his U.S. citizen stepfather and legal permanent resident mother. He was transferred to detention facilities in New Jersey, Texas and Arizona before being released in December after posting a $6,000 bond and being fitted with an ankle monitor. His mother, Sandra Suero, said she never expected the arrest, calling him "a newly graduated kid, still a child."

The ACLU of Nevada filed a lawsuit challenging Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department's 287(g) partnership with ICE, which allows local officers to hold undocumented immigrants for transfer to federal agents. The case centers on Sergio Morais-Hechavarria, a 36-year-old man arrested in August who pleaded guilty to attempted possession of a stolen vehicle. After completing his criminal sentence, a judge ordered his release to an inpatient treatment facility, but Metro detained him on an ICE immigration hold for weeks beyond his release date. On October 16, Morais-Hechavarria was transferred to a Texas immigration facility without notice to his attorneys and in violation of the court order. The ACLU contends the 287(g) partnership violates Nevada state law and Dillon's rule, which prohibits local agencies from exercising powers not authorized by the Legislature.

Juan Barbosa Gomez, a 60-year-old Mexican national with a valid work visa and clean criminal record, was arrested by ICE officers on October 15 in Portland, Oregon. His family claims the arrest was wrongful and says he has lived and worked legally in the U.S. for over 30 years. Since his arrest, Barbosa has been transferred between multiple detention facilities across three states and does not appear on ICE's online detainee locator, leaving his family unable to locate him or mount a legal defense.

A 13-year-old Brazilian boy named Arthur was arrested by Massachusetts police on a violent threat allegation and immediately taken into ICE custody, leaving his mother Josiele Berto unable to retrieve him. The Department of Homeland Security claimed Arthur had an "extensive rap sheet" and possessed a firearm, but local officials confirmed no gun was found. Arthur was transferred from Massachusetts to Virginia without notice to his family or attorney. A federal court petition was filed arguing his detention violates due process. His mother, whose family has a pending asylum application, can only communicate with him through brief phone calls.